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2018 Decide on a Healthy Year

2018 Decide on a Healthy Year, yes we all know that we should be making healthy decisions and trying to put our health first as much as possible. However, knowing and doing are often very different things. Busy daily routines, one too many commitments and a seemingly never-ending time crunch make losing sight of your health goals and slipping into bad habits all too easy.

However, with the new start offered by a new year you have another chance to make a serious effort to put your health first in 2018. And it’s not as hard as it seems. Here are a few helpful tips that should help you do just that.

2018 Decide on a Healthy Year

Take More Time for Yourself

Of all the suggestions we are going to make here, this one is probably the hardest to execute. But it’s also one of the most important, which is why we have put it first.

While we are not suggesting you go AWOL on all your responsibilities (although it would not hurt to take an afternoon away on occasion if you can) it is time to start to make a greater effort to keep your daily schedule manageable and a little less stressful.

Often this will mean learning to say no (even if you feel a bit guilty doing so), keeping work at work (no more checking emails at 9pm) and actively scheduling time away from your partner, the kids, the pets and everyone else, even if it is only for 30 minutes a day. The more stressed out you are the less likely you are to make healthy decisions, so taking this time for yourself is not a luxury, it’s a must.

2018 Decide on a Healthy Year

Eat Better on the Go

Often people eat rather healthily when they are at home, but their good intentions are derailed when it comes to eating on the go. It’s certainly often easier to pick up a calorie laden breakfast on the way to the office than to take the time to make (and consume) a healthier one at home. It is not, however, good for you (or for your wallet come to that.) Nor are those fast food lunches or that habit of sneaking food off your kids’ plates at night instead of eating a healthy dinner of your own.

For the good of your overall health (and maybe the size of your waistline) learn to look at the extra time it takes to prepare healthy food at home to take with you as an investment in your health and not as a drain on your limited time.

To help you meet your healthy eating goals prepare meals in advance at the weekend and freeze them, have other household members take a turn in the kitchen, read up on how to make healthy meals quickly (there are lots of books out there to help) and make a late New Year’s resolution now to take a new route to work that bypasses the tempting fast food joints now.

Set (Small) Goals

It’s a scenario repeated every year the world over. In early January gyms are packed with people with good intentions and fancy new workout clothes. But by the time the middle of February comes around at least half of them are gone, their resolve to ‘get fit’ having faded.

Often the problem is that people set fitness goals that are just a little too lofty and then get discouraged when they struggle to meet them. Setting smaller goals can help a great deal.

Think about what you really want to achieve and then begin setting small goals to help you get there, such as actually drinking those eight glasses of water a day, or finally incorporating a ten-minute daily walk into your busy schedule. As you achieve each small goal mark it off on a calendar and move on to another one. Once you start to be able to physically see all that you have achieved carrying on and doing even more will become much easier.

2018 Decide on a Healthy Year

Walking is the cheapest, easiest way to get a daily workout in, so why aren’t you doing more of it? Chances are it’s because you feel you don’t have the time to devote to getting those 10,000 + steps a day in. But the fact is that you do, by making a commitment to walking wherever, and whenever, you can.

How? Park a few rows back when you get to the office so that you have a little further to walk. Once in the building skip the lift and take the stairs. Walk across the office to speak to a coworker in person rather than sending an email. Spend those last ten minutes of your lunch hour taking a stroll instead of gossiping at the water cooler. Extend Fido’s walk time by ten minutes at night.

The fact is that there are lots of ways to add extra steps to your day once you actively start looking for them. And to motivate yourself to keep going (and maybe do even more) invest in a cheap pedometer (you don’t need anything fancy) so that you can see yourself meeting your goals.
Heres wishing you a healthy and productive 2018.